Short and sweet and after some mild deliberation, I’ve conceived a list of the five movies you must see this summer. They are varied, they are going to be great, and I will put money on it. Yes, there are going to be a ton of movies in June, July and August, and maybe some of them will be “good”, but only a few will be great — worth that $10-12 dollar ticket price for the big screen treatment and seeing it with friends.

Here is that Must-See list:

Prometheus (June 8th)

Brave (June 22nd)

The Amazing Spider-Man (July 7th)

The Dark Knight Rises (July 20th)

Total Recall (August 8th)

Honorable Mentions (a.k.a.: the Maybes and the Rental-worthy):

Snow White and the Huntsman (June 1st)

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (June 22nd)

Ted (July 13th)

It’s a light summer, but maybe that’s a good thing. With the month of May coming quickly to a close, there’s some good stuff coming at us at a manageable pace. If you can, like me, go to a midnight showing of any of these films if you’ve never experienced it before: sometimes, it can be a great moment for a large community. Other times, you’re just sitting in a room with loud, sweaty assholes. Choose your film wisely. Me? I’m Dark Knight all the way. That crowd will be nuts.